My sisters post reminded me of how blessed I am. I began to think about how far I have come in 17 years. Let me change that to how far God has brought me in 17 years. Everything now is before or after The Wreck. Before The Wreck, I was in the Navy and doing my own thing. My nephew Anthony Hart and I had just graduated from Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida. We were newly pinned petty officers in the US Navy and we were moving to Charleston, South Carolina. Our parents had come to Orlando for the graduation and were waiting at Disney World for us to come back. Anthony and I moved our stuff to a friends apartment in Charleston and headed back to Orlando. That was around the first week of November 1997. The next time I remember anything is around March of 1998. This just goes to show how fast things can happen. On our trip back to Orlando, we had a vehicle accident in Jacksonville, Florida. I have included pictures of the car after the wreck. It was a miracle, we were both still alive. We were taken to the Jacksonville trauma center, where I was put on life support. I was in a coma until thanksgiving day of 1997. The day before I woke up my sister Debbie told my dad that I would wake up on Thanksgiving and by the grace of God, I did. I was transferred to James Haley VA in Tampa, Florida. At this time I was At this time, I could not walk or talk. I couldnt even hold my head up. The left side of my body and the right side of my face was paralyzed. The doctors said that I would not walk out of there and that I would have to relearn everything. They evidently didnt know the God that I knew (Can I get an amen on that). After intense therapy and a lot of prayers, in February of 1998 I walked out. I was still on a cane but I was doing good enough to come back to Arkansas. I have come a long way since then. I wasnt able to continue my career in the Navy, but I was able to enroll in college with no remedial classes. I now have an associate degree in computer technology and a bachelors in laboratory science. I have since been given a rating of 100% disability from the VA but I am volunteering with the American Red Cross.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 03:22:23 +0000